I'm Dreaming of a White Pesach/ Passover
Post date: Dec 27, 2015 12:49:55 PM
Seasonal greetings abound, Christmas carols on the radio and I'm playing with a computer that's dreaming not of Christmas but of Pesach. The results are quite surprising to say the least.
In 2013, Google-employed Thomas Mikolov and colleagues introduced "Word2Vec", a tool for learning continuous word embeddings from raw data. Word2Vec adds a vector to words in a text representing the spatial distance between words which are seen as points in space. This distance describes the relation/ similarity between the words. Given a large unprepared corpus of data, Word2Vec can detect relationships between words and either predict which words go together with a given word (using Skip-grams) or predict a word based on neighboring words in a window (using the continuous bag of words method). The famous example, given by Mikolov in his paper, is that with a large enough training text, Word2Vec will correctly deduct that King-Man+Woman should result in Queen. With the Word2Vec tool, a text (or words) is inputted, compared to the training text and words that are related to the input are given as output.
Enter Eran Hadas, Israeli programmer, poet and new media artist and Eyal Gruss, machine-learning researcher and digital artist, with an interesting concept; What if we re-feed the Word2Vec output as input into a new Word2Vec cycle? And what if we do this in a loop with each output triggering a new cycle? The words found by Word2Vec will repeatedly produce new words, connected to the former ones. The computer will be playing an algorithmically-generated association game drifting further and further away from the original input with each round. They created a program which uses as its training text all the texts ever produced by Google News and uses a frequency count of the original input text to tell Word2Vec for which words to look for similar ones. The program then starts generating words which, with each loop generate new words. Hadas & Gruss call this a computer "dreaming" about the text and have named their tool Word2Dream. The program's output looks at first glance like a word cloud created by Wordle but then starts changing with old words disappearing and new ones popping up. At a certain point the program starts repeating the same words; no new words are generated - the dream has come to its end. Because the process is based on a deterministic algorithm, there is no randomization in the words generated and feeding the same text again for a new round will produce the exact same final outcome.
I decided to give this Word2Dream program something to dream about. My corpus of English Haggadah translations contains many versions that are very similar - some have only subtle differences. It is therefore difficult to decide how significant these changes are. But Word2Dream generates a "train of thought" that leads away from the original text so that a small difference in the starting point input texts should produce significant differences in the end result. I decided to give the computer the translations of the text about the four sons to dream about. For each text I fed, I waited 50 refreshments (self-refeeding cycles) because by that time the "dreams" had stabilized. I couldn't have imagined how significant these differences would be.
The first translation I tried was the first ever English translated Haggadah (1770, Alexander & Alexander, London). On the left the text and on the right the output for the dream:
Blessed is the Creator, blessed is he, blesses is he who gave the law to his people Israel, blessed is he whose law expresseth of these four different sorts of children. The wise, the wicked, the simple, and the one not having the capacity of asking.
The wise saith, what mean these testimonies, statutes, and judgments, which the Lord our God hath commanded us? then thou shalt say unto him according to the Paschal, as it is ordered us.
The wicked saith, what mean you by this service? by which expression, he draweth himself from the community and denies the omnipotence. Then shalt thou say unto him, on this account did the Lord do this unto me, on my going out of Egypt, to me and not to thee, for hadest thou been there, thou wouldest not have been redeemed.
The simple saith, what is this? and thou shalt say unto him, by strength of the Lord he brought us out from Egypt from the house of bondage.
And to him not in capacity of asking, thou must inculcate knowledge into him, as it is written, and thou shalt declare unto thy son, in that day, saying, this is done because of that which the Lord did unto me, when I came forth from Egypt.
Except for the fact that all words produced are verbs, there was nothing spectacular about this list of words. I was therefore quite surprised that the next trial, a 1794 translation by David Levy produced words with a rather Judeo-Christian slant.
Blessed be the Omnipresent; blessed is he who hath given the law to his people Israel; blessed be he whose law speaketh distinctly of four children; viz.the wise, the wicked, the simple, and he who hath no capacity to enquire.
The wise son thus expresses himself: what mean those testimonies, statutes, and judgments, which the Lord our God hath commanded us? Then shalt thou instruct him in all the laws of the Passover; also, that we must not have a dessert brought to table after the paschal lamb.
The wicked son expresses himself thus: what mean you by this service? By the expression YOU, it is clear, he doth not include himself: and, as he hath withdrawn himself from the collective body of the nation, it is proper, that thou retort upon him: and therefore answer him thus “This is done because of what the Lord did FOR ME, when I went forth from Egypt: i.e. for ME, but not for HIM; for had he been there, he would not have been thought worthy to be redeemed.
The simple son artlessly observes: what is this? Then shalt thou answer him; for with a strong hand the Eternal brought us out of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
But as for him; who hath no capacity to enquire, thou must begin the discourse: as it is said, and thou shalt shew thy son on that day, saying, this is done because of that which the Eternal did for me, when I went forth from Egypt.
Although many of the verbs are the same, this "dream" ended at a quite different final station. The NKJV (New King James Version Bible) comes at a surprise because the NKJV was produced in 1975, 181 years after Levy's translation but the language used in this text apparently "reminded" the program of text used in the NKJV. "NKJV" would actually come up in quite a few "dreams" I witnessed. Words like Salvific (=leading to salvation) and Canticle (= a biblical non-metrical hymn for church service), though distinctly non-Jewish are understandable outcomes when feeding a semi-liturgical text as input. Yahushua, which is the Jewish name for Jesus did come as a surprise.
Some "dreams" were completely Christian in outcome. Here an example from a 1912 USA text, translated by Dr. A. Th. Philips as advertisement for Manishevitz Matzes and published by the Hebrew Publishing Company:
Blessed be the Omnipresent ; blessed is he who hath given the law to his people Israel ; blessed be he whose law speaketh distinctly of four children of different dispositions, viz., the wise , the wicked, the simple , and he who hath not capacity to inquire.
The wise son thus expresses himself: what mean those testimonies, statutes, and judgments, which the Lord our God has commanded us? Then shalt thou instruct him in all the laws of the Passover; also, that we must not have a dessert brought to table after the paschal lamb.
The wicked son expresses himself thus; what mean you by this service? By the expression you , it is clear, he does not include himself; and as he hath withdrawn himself from the collective body of the nation, it is proper, that thou retort on him, and therefore answer him thus: this is done because of that, which the Eternal did for me, when I went from Egypt: i.e. for me, but not for him; for had he been there, he would not have been thought worthy to be redeemed.
The simple son artlessly observes, what is this? Then shalt thou answer him; for with a strong hand the Eternal brought us out of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
But as for him , who hath not capacity to enquire , thou must begin to discourse: as it is said, and thou shalt show thy son on that day, saying, this is done because of that which the Eternal did for me, when I went forth from Egypt.
Next to the reappearing NKJV, canticle and salvific, we find the Roman Catholic "Triduum" (=period of 3 days for prayer before a feast) and "Antiphon" (= devotional composition in liturgy).
Word2Dream seemed set on dreaming non-Jewish dreams when "reading" 4 sons translations from the Haggadah.
Up until this point the dreams went still quite along the same line so the next translation dream from 1840 (The Times Newspaper) left me flabbergasted:
“Blessed he the Omnipresent; blessed is He who hath given the law to his people Israel; blessed be He whose law speaketh distinctly of four children of different dispositions, the wise, the wicked, the simple, and he who hath no capacity to inquire.
“The wise son thus expresses himself–‘what mean those testimonies, statutes, and judgments which the Lord our God hath commanded us’ Then shalt thou instruct him in all the laws of the Passover; also, that we must not have a desert brought to table after the Paschal lamb, (became the Paschal lamb was the last thing eaten on that night, in commemoration of which, we at present eat a piece of Passover cake at the end of the meal.)
“The wicked son expresses himself thus:–‘What mean you by this service?’ By the expression ‘you’ it is clear he doth not include himself, and, as he hath withdrawn himself from the collective body of the nation, it is proper that thou retort on him, and therefore answer him thus, ‘This is done because of that which the Eternal did for me when I went forth from Egypt,”–I.e. for ‘me,’ but not for ‘him,’ for had he been there, he would not have been thought worthy to be redeemed.
“The simple son artlessly observes, ‘What is this?’ Thou shalt then answer him, ‘For with a strong hand the Eternal brought us out of Egypt, from the house of bondage.’
“But as for him who has not the capacity to inquire, thou must begin the discourse as it is said, and thou shalt show thy son on that day, saying, ‘This is done because of that which the Eternal did for me when I went forth from Egypt.’
Wildean (In style characteristic of Oscar Wilde)? It must be noted that many of these words have a very negative connotation e.g. lunkheaded, sneery, archness, overbearingly, mordantly, rebarbative and rawly. What is it in this text that created such a "nightmare"?
It started to dawn on me that subtle changes in the translations have far-fetching end results.
Word2Dream uses Google News as training text so I did not expect any Jewish dreams to come about. But I underestimated the program. The first real Jewish word popped up in a "dream" prompted by a 1862 translation (A.P.Mendes, London):
Blessed be God, the Omnipresent. Blessed be He who hath given the law to his people Israel. Blessed be He, whose law speaketh of the four different characters of children, whom we are to instruct on this occasion, the wise, the wicked, the simple, and the one who hath not capacity to inquire.
What says the wise son? He asks: "What are the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the Eternal, our God, hath commanded you?" Then thou shalt surely indoctrinate him in the laws of the passover, duly teaching him that after the paschal offering no dessert must be added.
What says the wicked son? He asks: “What mean you by this service?" He says you expressly to except himself; and since he thus excludes himself from the collective body of the nation, he denies a principle of faith. Therefore must thou retort upon him by saying: "This is done, because of what the Eternal did for me when I came forth from Egypt;" for me, and not for him: since had he been there, he would not have deserved to be redeemed.
What says the simple son? He only asks: "What is this?" But thou must tell him, "With might of hand did the Eternal bring us forth from Egypt, from the house of bondage."
And with him who hath not capacity to inquire, thou must open the discourse, as it is said: "And thou shalt relate to thy son on that day, this is done because of what the Eternal did for me when I went forth from Egypt."
Here we find, next to the recurrent verbs and NKJV, the Hebrew word "korban" (=sacrifice). What is it in this text that triggered this word. More specifically, what makes this text more Jewish than the former ones?
As it turned out, this was just the beginning. Some translations produced distinctly Jewish "dreams"
What makes the following text SO different from the former ones that it produced a wholly Jewish dream?
Blessed be the Omnipresent; blessed be he; blessed be he who has given the law to his people Israel; blessed be he. About four different children the Law spoke, one wise, and one wicked, and one simple, and one who does not understand to inquire.
The wise son what does he say? "What mean the testimonies and the statutes, and the ordinances, which the Lord our God has commanded you?" Then thou shalt tell him according to the laws of Passover also that one must not ask after the Passover-meal for a dessert.
The wicked son what does he say? "What means this service to you?" TO YOU , he says, but not to himself; and because he excluded himself from the community, he denied a principle of faith; therefore also thou make his teeth blunt, and say to him: "This service is because which the Lord did FOR ME, when I went fort out of Egypt"; FOR ME but NOT for him; had he been there, he would not have been redeemed.
The simple son what does he say? What is this? Then thou shalt answer (unto) him: By strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of slavery.
And as for him, who does not understand to inquire, thou shalt begin for him the discourse; as it is said: And thou shalt tell (to) thy son in that day, saying: This service is because of that which the Lord did for me, when I went forth out of Egypt.
"Shevat" and "Kislev" are names of Jewish months (neither is the name of the month in which the Passover feast falls), "Mishna", "Tractate" and "Midrash" are all Jewish holy books, "Shacharis" and "Hallel" are names of Jewish prayers. "Erev" means eve and "Shabbat" is self-explanatory. A "Farbrengen" is a joyous Hassidic gathering, a term used exclusively by the Hassidic Chabad-Lubavitz movement.
But this Haggadah (Magil's Linear Haggadah) was not produced by a Chabad Hassid nor produced for this movement and nothing in the text points that way.
The more texts I fed into Word2Dream the clearer it became that the "dreams" could be categorized into four different groups: Some were distinctly Jewish, some clearly not, some were very straightforward one-track-minded and simple to understand - like the one below which is a feminist Haggadah - and some "dreams" seem to completely misunderstand the input text like the "nightmare" above.
Four daughters arrive, one wise, one wicked, one simple, and one who does not know how to question.
The wise one, what does she say? "Mothers, what did the Shekhinah command of you that you sit here all this night and talk of departures?"
The wicked one, what does she say? "Why are you sitting here all the night, only you women? Women have nothing to say to one another. Women have nothing to learn from one another." By her saying this, she removes herself from the community of women and isolates herself. The elderly women tell her, "Because you have broken the chain that links you to our heritage and to the legacy of Miriam, you have no history. You are still in the house of bondage."
The simple one, what does she say? "What is this?" She is referring to the inheritance from Miriam. The older women relate to her the legends about the first prophet.
The one who does not know how to question, for her the others must open the way.
The four sons in the Haggadah represent four kinds of people: Those who keep faithfully to the Jewish religion, customs and beliefs in all its complexities, those who have distanced themselves from Judaism, those who do not know much but try to keep on track and those who have lost track of religion all together and do not even understand what they are lacking. The four kind of "dreams", described above, dreamed by Word2Dream while reading this text might well represent these 4 sons: A Jewish dream, a non-Jewish dream, a simplistic dream and an incomprehensible one.
Eran Hadas and Eyal Gruss created Word2Dream within a 24-hour period for a code-art exhibition in Tel Aviv without any intention of it being used for serious research. But I feel the results of my little experiment warrant further examination because they show how even the subtlest variations in a translation can create ripples far beyond the imagination of the translator. All the texts and dreams of this experiment can be downloaded for closer inspection HERE.
Not even Irving Berlin, the Jew who wrote and composed "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" could have imagined that one day his song would be used as the introduction to a blog post about a computer dreaming of Pesach. Is that white powder on my computer snow or something more hallucinating?
Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all those celebrating it!